La Alma / Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park is a neighborhood and public park close to downtown Denver and the location of the Santa Fe Arts District. The neighborhood is one of Denver's oldest and is just to the south of the area where Denver was first settled in the 1850s. Many houses date from about 1900. Although most of the original structures were lost to floods along Cherry Creek, the neighborhood's character today is still shaped by the age of its homes.

HistoryLa Alma/Lincoln Park dates from the settlement of Auraria City, where the Auraria Higher Education Center is presently located. 93% of the residential blocks were developed before 1900, and the remaining 7% developed between 1900 and 1914. 20 structures within the neighborhood are listed in the Denver Inventory as having architectural or historical significance. Additionally, the neighborhood has a residential district on the National Register of Historic Places. That district, located on Kalamath, Lipan, and Mariposa streets between West 13th Avenue and Colfax Avenue, is an example of early Denver's working class neighborhoods. Prior to 1900, only a few sporadic attempts had been made to develop a park system for the growing city. A notable exception to this was the 15 acre site, which the city purchased in 1885 and named "Lincoln Park".

Today Today, Lincoln Park (the park itself) serves as the focal point of the neighborhood. It is the site of the La Alma Recreation Center and numerous Mexican-American celebrations and festivities. "La Alma", a Spanish word for "spirit" or "soul," has been joined to the neighborhood's traditional name, so that today it is commonly called "La Alma/Lincoln Park".